Lastly, I am starting for the first time to add kalkwasser. My tank does not evaporate much (maybe 1 gallon week).
That's not too good. Most believe in high evap to maintain calcium via kalk. I evap a minimum or 15 gal per wk in my 200 now a 255 with refugium. You should have fans in your hood which will increase evap and some go as far as placing fans (sometimes very large fans) over the sump. The more air movement= evap = more frequent or larger doses of kalk. I would say a 55 should do about 5 gal per week and added in 2 2.5 gal increments. You add the kalk in the am when the pH is lowest. Mix in the pm let settle then dose in am
So I will be adding this probably once a week. What is the rule of thumb for adding how much in a period of time? Is it one drop per second?
Depends the size of the drop, using an airline tube the drops are large, an IV bag they are small. I would recommend airline with a reliable clamp and dose the 2.5 gal in a 24 hr period you will be fine. The MAIN thing is to make the adding water to the container/mixing/dosing as EASY as possible so it is
not a dreaded inconvenience. That's the main trick! I use a 5 gal bucket with a pump at the bottom and a water supply right in the bucket. Fill... add kalk... turn on powerhead...mix for 4 hours or so... unplug powerhead... let settle for about an hour... then drip in. I drip 5 gal in about an hour through airline w/o clamp.
not a dreaded inconvenience. That's the main trick! I use a 5 gal bucket with a pump at the bottom and a water supply right in the bucket. Fill... add kalk... turn on powerhead...mix for 4 hours or so... unplug powerhead... let settle for about an hour... then drip in. I drip 5 gal in about an hour through airline w/o clamp.
Simplified Reefkeeping
